OSSTF/FEESO to hold one-day walkout in selected locations on March 5, 2020

TORONTO, ON – February 28, 2020 — On Thursday, March 5, education workers and teachers represented by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) in certain school boards (see attached fact sheet) will take part in another one-day, full withdrawal of services in selected locations across Ontario.

OSSTF/FEESO members in other school boards across the province will continue to engage in activities that draw attention to the dangers the Ford government’s agenda poses to publicly-funded education in Ontario.

A limited withdrawal of services, which has been in place since November, will continue province-wide.

OSSTF/FEESO President Harvey Bischof has repeated the Federation’s standing offer to postpone pending job actions if the government agrees to return to, and maintain, the class size ratios and staffing levels that were in place in Ontario schools during the 2018-2019 school year.

“Almost every day, in the media and in the legislature, we see the Premier and the Minister of Education practically jumping through hoops to avoid answering questions about the government’s agenda of larger class sizes, mandatory e-learning, and fewer supports for our most vulnerable students,” said OSSTF/FEESO President Harvey Bischof.

“Doug Ford and Stephen Lecce won’t talk about these issues because they know full well that that their policies are indefensible,” continued Bischof. “They also know, as evidenced again this week by data from their own consultations, that their agenda has virtually no support among education stakeholders or the general public.”

“Until the Minister is ready to acknowledge that these are the issues at the heart of this dispute, and until he’s ready to address them in a meaningful way at the bargaining table, OSSTF/FEESO members will continue to stand in defense of Ontario’s first-class public education system and the students who rely on it,” concluded Bischof.

OSSTF/FEESO, founded in 1919, has over 60,000 members across Ontario. They include public high school teachers, occasional teachers, educational assistants, continuing education teachers and instructors, early childhood educators, psychologists, secretaries, speech-language pathologists, social workers, plant support personnel, university support staff, and many others in education.